Best Santa EVER!

This is our first year to go see Santa... and when the kids found out that Santa was their Papa, they were ecstatic! ;) Miss Sass was a little unsure at first. After all, the last time she saw Papa he was clean-shaven. ;)

She warmed up to him though... however she hid her smile from me, of course. ;)

So, these are all straight out of the camera so they are far from perfect! But I wanted to share, so here they are. ;) This next one was fun... sort of a behind the scenes shot.

Drama Boy was so fun. He just loves the Santa story and he loves Papa even more! ;)

I really need to get a new lens... one with auto focus!!!

Then it was Mr. Cool's turn. He thought the whole thing was a blast and just told Santa everything! Lol

I think my Daddy makes a pretty good Santa. ;)

How was your trip to see Santa?

Sesame Street eBooks Review

I was invited by Impelsys to review the new Sesame Street eBooks. I will be using the service for the next few weeks and will put up a review on this and my hair blog. I'm excited about this and so are my kiddos! ;)

"Elmo loves his eBooks! Elmo can choose from so many stories, and sometimes Elmo can even hear a friend reading to him! Elmo loves that he can read his favorite eBooks wherever Elmo's mommy or daddy can go online!"

Beach Fun - I HEART Faces

I have been wanting to do these photo challenges more, so I decided to just enter this week... even though this picture is a little older. ;) We went on a cruise last fall and this was taken at Grand Cayman. We were just a little out into the water. This is my brother getting ready to snorkel and being his normal goofy self. ;)

Check out the other great entries:

Wordless Wednesday... Real Dad, Real Hero

Tina from Little Tots/Big Ideas posted this beautiful video today and it left me wordless...

Packing lunches... practice makes perfect!

For some strange reason, I feel that it is my duty to pack lunches for my kids. Part of that might be that I have home-schooled for the last three years and feel a little like an outsider since they are attending public schools this year! heh. I know sandwiches, mac'n'cheese, granola bars, chips, etc. That stuff is really easy. However, I'd like to send meals that are creative and different so the kids don't get bored. I also want to include lots of fresh foods that will give the kiddos lots of long-lasting energy....
Anyway, today was my first attempt at filling their bento boxes. ;) I'm not completely certain I would call it a success, but it's food. Lol, the kids thought it was cool. I am not sharing pictures; it was way too disasterous for that! But I am certainly going to try again. I figure I have a couple weeks left to get it figured out before school starts and they are actually taking the lunches with them where I won't be able to fix things, add to, whatever... So, feel free to join me on this silly journey toward healthy lunches. ;)

Zoo Day ... Pictures Galore!

The kids had a great day at Wet 'n Wild Days yesterday! We started off our adventure with two little guides leading the way...

We had an extra munchkin along for the ride. This is my squeezable nephew, Little Man. I promise he is not squished under all that stuff!

Little Man was the first to test the waters...

The other three kids quickly made their way into the largest puddle in the state, waving at the firefighters as they are drenched by the firehose! You can just pick out Mr. Cool standing right in the middle, blocking the spray with his arms.

Next we found a misting tent where Mr. Cool just couldn't resist splashing like he did when he was two! He loved this picture, so I just had to share! ;)

The kids got pretty worn out, so we headed for the door, but we found an awesome photo spot and stopped for a few more shots. I was thrilled because I finally got Drama Boy to hold still for a few clicks! heh

I really loved this one! Notice the bare feet, though? Yeah, we lost her shoes somewhere along the way! (sheesh, pay attention mama!) Thankfully a wonderful zoo employee found them and brought them all the way to the front for us. Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers!

And finally there are these two shots! I love my creative kiddos!

They were so fun... if only I could get all four kids to look at the same time. yeah right ;)

Super Milk

My nieces are over playing with the kids... The older of the two is the female version of Drama Boy. ;)

"My puppy has a captivity in her, so she needs to drink some super milk!"

Not 100% certain, but my guess is doggy dentist. heh

My husband can break anything!

No really, I mean that... especially if his brother is involved. So there's this company, Coleman, that made these virtually "indestructable" canoes. What they mean by that is the hull. Yeah, no one ever figures on the frame breaking... twice. Shall I go on or just tell the story? Ok, the story then. I was not there, but I'll do my best...

Daniel (the hubby), Steven (Bro-in-law), and Randy (Dad-in-law) decide to canoe the Arkansas River the day after a two day storm. --1st Mistake-- Typically, you would want two people to a canoe. Steven's brother-in-law was going to join them, but had to cancel last minute. So they decided to all hop in one canoe together! --2nd Mistake, yeah we're already at mistake #2, so you get the idea-- Apparently most of the trip was just fun and games until they hit a rather rough patch. Randy takes a tree branch to the chest that throws him from the canoe. Daniel jumps out to keep the canoe from capsizing, and Steven (the smallest by a considerable amount) simply could not keep the 17 foot canoe going from the middle seat in the swift current. By the end, the canoe's keel and one thwart (both parts of the frame) had snapped and all three of the guys went for more than one nice swim down a not-so-calm river of 5 foot rapids. At one point, Daniel was pinned against a tree... by the canoe. Then it was Steven's turn as he was the only one who had a hand on their only way home and his other hand clung desparately to a tree. Everytime he managed to pull the canoe closer, his head went under. Not exactly conducive to survival. When they finally managed to get out of the river, 500 yards downstream from their vehicle, they found the only way back was to carry the canoe through 5 football fields worth of thorny bushes. With no shoes. In addition to the scrapes, bruises, severe sunburns and previously described property damage, there were also several items lost. They include:

A brand new cooler (with lunch, 4 beers, 1 Dt Dr. Pepper & 2 Dr. Peppers)
Two seat backs ........... So, have I mentioned yet that they borrowed the canoe!?!?!
Bladder control (to which the guys have not admitted, I'm just guessing on that one)
2 Shirts
2 stabilizers
2 oars
1 pair of sunglasses
1 pair of suspenders, no, really my father-in-law loves 'em

As my husband told this harrowing tale of bravery and cunning on the trecherous waters of the Arkansas to our children, they stared at him with awed looks of terror and pride. The oldest and most inquisitive asked for a recitation of every tiny detail and a description of the damages inflicted on the canoe he has taken oh-so-many rides in. The middle child and most dramatic/creative simply asked in a gasp, "You mean, you almost died!?!" (eh, he's in Kindergarten... everyone almost dies, all the time.) But the youngest, our only girl and the princess of the house held her hands over her mouth for a long moment. When she was finally able to speak, it was in hushed tones of agony "You lost your shoe?"

Tinkerbell likes to Tickle People

Mr. Cool was playing with his little sister, who is obsessed with Tinkerbell;) He climbed under a sheet and starting rolling around and giggling. He told her that Tinkerbell was tickling him. Lol, so cute. She thought it was the greatest thing ever! ;)

4th of July applique for the boys;)

Okay, so I took about 40 pictures of my boys and this is about the best I got of the two together! They just don't care so much about the camera, especially when there are firecrackers to set off;)

Really, though, I guess I should have done a separate photo shoot with them... Okay to make these shirts... I bought the red t-shirts for 8 bucks at, I think it was Sears or Penny's. Then I took the material and used a fabric marker to draw the basic shape of what I wanted. Then I cut it out just inside the marker line.

It doesn't have to be precise at all! Next I pinned it to the front of the shirt along with some stitch'n'tear on the inside of the shirt. Then I just used a thick stitch and sewed the outline of the shape, but about 1/4" from the edge. After a few washes the edges got frayed and it looks really cute! Anyway, I really liked these last two with my niece and Drama Boy; they were SO cute together! ;)

Time flies...

Been ages (okay a few weeks) since my last post and I felt like I was being neglectful. So, here you go:)
These pics are both from Father's Day. I wish I had taken another pic after the first, but didn't think about it at the time...

So, we went to this steakhouse with the inlaws for lunch. We were heading out to my dad's that afternoon for an early dinner, so I didn't order much. I got a sirloin and lobster meal to share with the kids. This...............

is what they brought out to us! Now, without another picture to compare, you may not see the problem, or maybe you do! I'm telling you that when they brought this thing out, everyone at the table could smell it! And it wasn't a good smell:( It was somewhat like an ashtray, or well, it was gross. The smell went away mostly after the nice girl put it on the table, but there was just no hope. I honestly think my lobster tail caught fire! It was horrible. I tried to at least taste it, but couldn't get the bite to my mouth without smelling it... YUCK!

The next time I saw our server, I called him over. "My lobster is a little ... dark." As he looked down his eyes flew open and nearly popped out of his head and his jaw dropped to his chest: "Oh my!" Then he literally RAN back to the kitchen! About 7 minutes later, he brought out a much more lobster-looking lobster tail and it was delicious:) A few minutes after that the manager came by to say he had taken it off my bill and to apologize in person. We also got a discount on our next visit. They handled it perfectly, but I still can't believe the girl(maybe a hostess?) brought it out to me and that the cook actually handed it to her! But, hey, how cool is that?! Someone else burns things too:)

After we left, I opened the doors in the Jeep to cool it off and Alex found this patch of perfectly soft and green grass to rest on... She was too cute:)

So, Happy Father's Day! (a week late)

It was a Mamarazzi sort of day:)

We had a little impromptu backyard photo shoot this evening:) The kids were so sweet!

I can't really decide between the pics of Alex, but I will print copies of one or two to hand out this summer. Feel free to leave your opinion:)

Alex chose the background today, saying the rock she sat on was "just the right perfect" and the flowers were "pretty pieces of purple". Sounds good to me... almost enough for a Beatles song:)

I think I might crop this one in a little closer on her... I am trying to get better at manual (dramatic music plays...) Alex moved just as I snapped this one, but still cute! Okay, so the boys weren't exactly portrait ready, Mr. Cool wearing just swim trunks:) I was a little sad after I looked at them too... I mean, look! A REAL SMILE!!! Lol, I love this picture of him! We'll have to try this again... apparently "ice cream and potato chips" is the phrase I need to use:)

And here's my precious little angel! He has the sweetest smile:)

Pirates and Princesses... My favorite kind of party!

The boys birthday party was several weeks ago... I was going through pictures looking for something for the iHeartFaces photo contest when I came across these and thought I would post some:)

We had a couple of pirate-type activities for the kids including a cannon ball fight. We had this canoe and a cardboard pirate ship which I somehow didn't get a clear shot of... The kids were in the canoe and the dads were in the ship. Lol, it was so fun! And the girls were so much help during the battle:)

Speaking of girls... Alex was supposed to be searching for a gold nugget(painted rock) to trade in for a treat bag, but she wouldn't touch the "dutty" sand. She did eventually find one with brother's help.

This guy was so stinkin' adorable!

Here are the boys and Miss Priss hunting for burried treasure... this was a favorite for the boys. Lol, anything messy!
Okay, this one makes me laugh:) Drama Boy is trying to open his big gift from Mommy and Alex doesn't feel like moving, so he just set it on her head. Lol, they are so cute!

And this one is my very favorite! For one thing, it shows just how much bigger Mr. Cool is than little brother. Then there's the adorable Webkinz Parrots that my sister got them. And their cute little poses/faces while they try to keep them on their shoulders! They were so adorable and had so much fun!

1 Week(felt like 1 Month) in review...

Okay, I'll just do a quick recap, in case you're wondering why I haven't posted:)

My mom graduated from Friend's University. Now she is not only qualified to completely develop and create a classroom's curriculum, assignments, tests, and computer programs that run all of it... she is officially a teacher with a music degree! She's the original Jane of All Trades:)

Then there was Mother's Day.... and well, you already know how that started:)

My nephew turned 1, had a super-cute, very blue birthday party!

My big sis moved to California with her fiance; they arrived at their new home yesterday.

"Aunt" Amy(the kids' Godmother) went into the hospital. She had a lump removed from her chest, under her ribcage on Wednesday and we are waiting for results from the biopsy. (Please pray for her recovery!)

The idler pulley wheel, something-or-other busted off of our Jeep causing it to freak out and overheat on Wednesday... yep, while I was driving it. We get it back Monday.

Alex and Mr. Cool got very sick, very quickly with suspected cases of meningitis. (Antibiotics cleared up whatever bacterial thing it was, so they are "all better now". Thank Goodness!

Mr. Cool turned 7! On to 2nd grade next year. (WOW!)

The new Tiger exhibit opened at our Zoo, so we just HAD to see it:)

And to top it all off, the season finale of Bones was terribly unsatisfying:) At least he's still alive, I guess...

Twirl Baby Twirl!

Alex was running around, dancing, and singing today... her usual:) She came over and started spinning in front of me. Then she stopped suddenly with a serious look:

"Mommy! Do that thing to my dress!"

"What thing baby?" (We've never played this game, so I wasn't sure what she meant.)

"Do this!" As she pulled up on different parts of the hem as she turned.

Then I realized that she wanted me to flip up her skirt while she was spinning! Lol, I have no idea where she saw that! Honestly, I haven't even watched this season of Dancing with the Stars!

Anyway, here is a picture I came across tonight and wish I remembered for the Laughter photo contest... Man! It is just perfect:) Oh well, still so fun to look at; I can't help but smile:)

A Kansas Girl in a California World...

My big sis is engaged and moving... to California!!! That's a long ways from Kansas, in a lot of ways:) Matt is a great guy and I know Charlie will be so happy, but man will I miss her. The farthest away she's been before is about a 35min drive. Now who will shop for me? Lol, she buys most of my clothes and my skin care. She has such great taste in fashion stuff(unlike me, obviously:) She's a great auntie, and she is one of the most genuine and fun people I have ever known. Anyway, I'm just gonna miss her a lot!
So, farewell my beautiful sister.
Get a great tan.
Visit Disney 4 times a year.
Get married to that great man.
Have babies and love life!
And don't forget to send tons of pictures to your lil' sis!

Anyone else wanna get sick?!

So, Alex is fine, nothing major. She just has a little bug and is fighting it just fine with antibiotics and cough meds. But now, I just got a message from Momma that my Dad is sick... They just got back from a trip Las Vegas and he has a supposed case of swine flu. Yeah, my Dad seems to be prone to catching the wierd stuff. When I was in hospital having Alex, he had to sit down to hold her because he had vertigo. Either way, I really hope he gets better soon:) My sister is moving to California in two weeks and my nephew's 1st bday party is next weekend, so he needs to hurry it up:)
Well, pray for him if you would, he's pretty important to me!

Have to start somewhere...

I considered starting our family blog by going back and talking about how we got here. That seemed like a lot of work and I am far more interested in talking about now:) So, I am going to start with where we are and what we are all up to and whatever else pops into my head that I feel like sharing. And since I am currently on percocet and Ibuprofen, antibiotics, etc., it could be anything. (Some sort of virus is attacking me!)

For those who don't see us regularly, I suppose I will give a short update. We have three kids, yes I am still married to Daniel, though he is hard to spend time with. Not because I don't like him, he's just busy:)

Dan is taking several college courses, is doing field internships/clinicals, works full time, and still finds time to spend with us and fix up the house. He's one-of-a-kind.

Michael, 6, is in first grade and is starting to think girls are cute, mostly older girls. He is taking piano lessons and tumbling, loves math, and wants us to do all of the reading for him.

Joshua, 4, thinks the world is his stage. He dances everywhere he goes and is more dramatic than most teenage girls. He takes jazz and likes to change clothes 5 times a day (he always matches too:).

Alexandra, 2, is my little girly girl. If you tell her she is a girl, she argues and says she's Princess Alexandra. She thinks the world is just hers and that she should have everyone's attention just because! But she gets shy with all eyes on her:) She collects shoes, sings all day, and loves to paint.

And if you haven't figured it out yet, and are wondering what I do, this is it! I write about what the rest of my family is doing:) I also take lots of pictures of them and tell them all what to do! Honestly, I love it!


I guess a short update on 5 people is actually kind of long, so I'll just tell a story or two.


We have had issues lately with Alexandra's choice in clothing. Mainly because she doesn't want to wear any. Getting ready to leave the house a few days ago, Dan told her to get dressed(she was wearing only panties.) She replied "Oh, I need socks and shoes!" -"No, you need to put on pants and a shirt and then your socks and shoes." says Daddy -"OK!" she said with a big smile, excited to make her daddy happy. This is how she came back out. And yes, that is snow outside!

And then there is Joshua who seems to be in a continuous cartwheel. I'm not sure how he does it, but practically everytime I look at him, he is upside down. In the grocery store, at Michael's school, at church... I thought tumbling would be good for the boy; he could learn balance and coordination. Now, I don't know, it's like I really do have a monkey for a son!

Well, I told one about the other two... Today we made cupcakes to take to Michael's class movie day. I made a few extra ones, because I figured the kids would want to try them when the were done. But Michael said he wanted to save them so that if there was someone in his class who didn't have money for anything like that at home, they could take his extra one. So sweet!